Introduction
It’s one of life’s most disappointing experiences.  It is the kind of thing that leaves you jaded, skeptical and disillusioned.  Getting what you’d hoped for!  Have you been there?  Maybe it was your dream job but it turned out to be a nightmare.  Perhaps your dream house was, in fact, a money pit.   Your dream car?  A lemon.  That girl you had to marry…well we’ll not go there but you get the idea.  Life under the sun is filled with broken dreams, disappointing successes and unfulfilled expectations.  In short, satisfaction is just beyond your grasp.  Satisfaction is the “fulfillment of one’s wishes” or the pleasure derived from experiencing dreams come true.  In fairy-tales people live happily ever-after.  But, in case you haven’t noticed, life is no fairy-tale.  In the real world it seems we are forever on the trail of satisfaction.  It’s just around the corner.  Perhaps it will come with the next promotion.  Maybe if we get in the right neighborhood.  Surely when we get out from under this debt - but by the time we get there satisfaction has moved on.  It’s why the preacher cried, “Vanity of vanities!  All is vanity!”  Empty, transient, passing, hollow.  What is?  Everything!  Everything that is, “under the sun.”  When you evaluate life without regard for God or the things of God the logical conclusion is - it’s empty, meaningless, unsatisfying.

Solomon is looking back over his life and evaluating.  He sees his life as a grand experiment.  He has done a little bit of everything.  He has tried everything.  And he has come to this conclusion - “after all my I’ve experienced, after all I’ve accomplished, if you add up what I’ve accomplished and what I’ve accumulated, what do I have?  A great big jar of nothing!”  He is not saying he has not accomplished anything.  He isn’t suggesting that he has not enjoyed himself along the way.  He is saying, “ultimately it does not satisfy.”  The apostle Paul told the church at Corinth that the Old Testament Scriptures were written for their benefit.  They were to learn from them so as not to make the same mistakes.  We have the benefit of Solomon’s experience.  He’s been there, done that and he has the t-shirt but it seems we are determined to learn the same lessons the hard way - through our own painful experience.  Our text this morning is found in the 2nd chapter of Ecclesiastes and we will begin at verse 1.

Text: Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
Solomon leaves no doubt about where he is heading - 1:2-3.
He states his conclusion at the very beginning.
Keep in mind he is “thinking out loud” we are traveling this road with him.
Solomon shifts gears with chapter 2.  If wisdom proves to be ineffective then maybe the “good life” is the key to a good life.  If not wisdom how about pleasure?

It is here that we learn…

Thesis: Genuine, lasting satisfaction cannot be attained through human means.
This is something our culture needs to hear.  We have been raised to believe we can accomplish anything.  If you want it bad enough and you work hard enough you can have it.  We idolize the “self-made” man.  We love those rags to riches stories and want to believe it can happen to us some day.

In addition we’ve convinced ourselves that the “successful” are happy and fulfilled.  They must be because they have it all.  That’s not what Solomon says.

Let me point out three things as we work our way through this text.

1. The promise of satisfaction through pleasure proves to an illusion.  (2:1-3)
2. The notion that power, position and prestige brings peace and contentment is an empty dream.  (2:4-8)
3. Though the pursuit of pleasure and the accumulation of power bring momentary relief and provide a temporary distraction they do not, in fact, cannot satisfy.  (2:9-11)

Conclusion
He had a thousand women - 700 wives and 300 concubines (all them beautiful).
He had more money than a man could spend.
He had vast estates.
He had time and means to pursue every possible pleasure.
And it all amounted to what?  Nothing.  Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

Why is that?
Hebrews 9:27 - appointed unto man to die once and then comes the judgment.
Death comes to all and then what?

Introduction
It is part of who we are.  We can’t help it.  We are by nature curious.  Don’t you find yourself wondering and questioning things?  I mean, why do people without a watch look at their wrist when they ask you what time it is?  Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle?  Questions, we wrestle with them everyday.  Some are important, others are not so important.  Some mold or alter our lives, while others have little or no lasting effect.  This evening I want us to consider one of life’s vital questions.  Webster defines vital as concerned with or necessary to the maintenance of life; something fundamentally concerned with or affecting life.  I’m certain that we can agree that there are some questions that are of vital importance.  I would suggest that life’s most vital question has to do with the Lord Jesus – is he indeed the Messiah?  Is he the Savior?  Is he who he claims to be?

We are going to look this evening at a crisis point in the life and ministry of John the Baptist.  John found himself imprison for his faithfulness in declaring the truth of God.  He had faithfully and consistently declared Jesus as the Messiah.  As reports reached him about the ministry of Jesus, John came to a crisis of faith.  Through John’s story we learn something about the response of the Lord Jesus to the questioning heart.  We will consider John’s story is it is recorded in Matthew chapter 11.

Text: Matthew 11:1-19
There is that part of us that thinks faith eliminates all questions and struggles.  Sometimes we get the idea that it is “wrong” to question or wonder why.  But Christianity welcomes honest questioning.  Truth always invites investigation.  The Gospel is not afraid of someone asking too many questions.  Faith does not eliminate doubt.  In fact doubting is a tool for building faith!

Os Guinness has suggested there are two dangers to be avoided when dealing with doubt.

1. Being too soft on doubt – never needing any kind of assurance.
2. Being too hard on doubt – equating all doubt with unbelief.

Alister McGrath adds, “Faith isn’t a product of absolute certain knowledge.  Faith is about being willing to live through trust in the existence and promises of God, knowing that one day his existence and those promises will be totally vindicated.  But for the moment, we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Our text is fascinating to me given the background of John the Baptist.  This is a remarkable question coming from this man.  Yet it is a question that each of us must deal with.  It is a matter of life and death.  It is a “vital question” – a vital issue.

“Are you the one who was to come or should we expect someone else?”  “Are you the Christ?  Are you the Messiah?  Are you the long awaited Savior of the world?”  This question is at the heart of the Christian faith.  Mark it down.  Underline it.  Circle it in red.

Christianity is not primarily a teaching.  It is not primarily a philosophy.  Neither is it primarily a way of life.  It is a relationship with the Sovereign God of heaven and earth, through the person of Jesus Christ.  The Gospel is the story of the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God left the glory and splendor of heaven and was born on this earth.  His purpose in coming was to redeem fallen and broken humanity.  He and He alone is the savior of the world and there is no heaven apart from Him.  If that is true, then the most important question in this world is “What about Jesus of Nazareth?”

If He is who the Bible claims that He is, then there is no more important question.  The question then before the house is – “What are you going to do with Jesus?”  “How are you going to respond to Him?”

These are the issues/questions surrounding this snapshot out of the life and ministry of John the Baptist.  From this story we learn something about the questioning heart and the search for assurance.  In fact we discover that:

Thesis: The questioning heart finds assurance in the person of the Lord Jesus.
As this drama in the life of John unfolds before us we find three acts.

1. Act One: A crisis of faith.  (11:1-3)
2. Act Two: A clear word.  (11:4-6)
3. Act Three: A comforting reassurance.  (11:7-11a)

Have you ever struggled to believe?  You are in good company.  The questioning heart finds reassurance in the person of the Lord Jesus.

Introduction
It may not always be expressed in the same way.  In fact, it may not be worked out to the point the person even understands what they are longing for but people want to know, “why they are here.”  I don’t mean why they are in church today.  I mean why are they on the planet?  Why do they exist?  What is the purpose or meaning of life?  Tied directly to this question is the confusion surrounding why the accumulation of wealth, power and influence does not satisfy.  You may say, “Well I’ve really not been given the opportunity to test that hypothesis.  I can’t say wealth, power and influence does not satisfy I haven’t experience any of them for myself.”  Perhaps not but you’ve desired something.  Something that you believed, if you just got it - you would know happiness.  So you worked and you planned and you saved and finally you got what you wanted and it was wonderful…for a while.  But soon the joy passed.  The newness wore off.  It did not satisfy and something else caught your attention and you were certain that it would bring lasting joy.

Just for fun the other day I “googled” - “the path to happiness.”  I found listed several websites that promised to guide me down the path to true and genuine happiness.  One was actually named pathtohappiness.com!  The website assures Happiness is not a result of what happens to us, it is a result of the stories we tell ourselves about what happens to us.  The site promises to guide you through a process of identifying the stories you tell yourself, how to evaluate them, offer you other stories that might better serve you and thus lead you to genuine, lasting happiness.  According to an article in USA Today one of the fastest growing industries in the country is “Life Coaching.”  A life coach is an individual who comes along side to get you “unstuck” professionally or personally.  I would have to add to this, because it was not covered in the USA Today article, “spiritual coaching.”  According to the article, written in 208, there were 10,000 life coaches operating in the United States.  That number has risen dramatically over the last couple of years.  Why?  In spite of all of our technological advances, regardless of our high standard of living, despite Facebook, people are lonely, frustrated, unfulfilled and empty.  The cry of “the preacher” 10 centuries before Christ rings true today, “Vanity of vanities!  All is vanity!”  All of life is empty, transient and passing.  Our text this morning is found in the first chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes.

Text: Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
The preacher, the one who calls the assembly is walking us through a process.
He is surveying his life and looking at his life as a great experiment.
He is thinking out loud about life and its lessons.
At times he seems depressed and melancholy but you must remember the phrase, “Under the sun.”

Life with God out of the equation.
Life without regard for God or the things of God.
Life from a merely human perspective leads to these conclusions.
It is a fallacy to believe the writer thinks nothing in life is worthwhile.

He is not saying there is nothing of any value in anything - he is saying, if there is no God and this is all there is - it is ultimately empty and unsatisfying.  Sin always has its pleasures.  The most godless person you can think of has his moments of peace and joy.  The point is such peace and joy ultimately prove to be fleeting.  They do not last and they do not satisfy.

He begins by stating his conclusion - life under the sun is full of vanity.
Vanity = empty, transient, fading, unsatisfying, unfulfilling
Life apart from God is an endless drudgery leading nowhere.
It is a meaningless, monotonous existence.
It is an empty memory.
In other words it is a vain and empty pursuit.

We pick up with verse 12 of chapter 1 (read the text).

Here we discover…
Thesis: Any attempt to gain meaningful satisfaction through intellectual pursuits proves to be a fool’s errand.

You know what a fool’s errand is - it is a fruitless mission or undertaking; a completely absurd and pointless pursuit.  It is a task or activity that has no hope of succeeding.  That’s what Solomon describes in our text.

I think we need to understand this because we live in a culture that believes if you just “educate” people everything will be okay.  The problem is people just don’t know.  When they know this or that is wrong or hurtful they won’t do that anymore.  That’s not true.  It’s not that simple.  Don’t misunderstand me - I’m all for education.  “I are educated” but knowledge, by and in itself, is not the answer.  Solomon makes that clear in our text.

Let me point out 3 things.

1. A sincere, diligent search for meaning through mere human wisdom proves fruitless.  (1:12-14)
2. In spite of profound effort applied with genuine desire answers prove to be allusive.  (1:15-17)
3. Such pursuits only add to the misery of life apart from God.  (1:18)

Conclusion
Solomon did not say, and I’m certainly not going to say, that if you are not a Christian you cannot know any joy in this life.  Of course there are moments of joy, peace and genuine happiness but they ultimately fade.  They are transient, they are passing.  Those moments will not fill the emptiness deep within your soul.  In fact those moments only cause you to hunger more for genuine, lasting fulfillment.  A fulfillment that can only be known through Christ.

Introduction
Power is an illusion.  Fame is fleeting.  Life is but a vapor.  We spend our days fighting and clawing our away to the top.  We struggle and strain in the hopes that we will achieve some success, that we will be remembered for some great thing.  All the while knowing that the vast majority of us will live and die in obscurity.  Few will take note that we traveled this way.  Oh, and those who do achieve notoriety - they too will one day be forgotten.  Doris Kearns Goodwin, the presidential biographer, gives these haunting words about the end of Lyndon Baynes Johnson:

A month before he died, he spoke to me with immense sadness in his voice.  He said he was watching the American people absorbed in a new president, forgetting him, forgetting even the great civil rights laws that he had passed.  He was beginning to think his quest for immortality had been in vain, that perhaps he would have been better off focusing his time and attention on his wife and his children, so then he could have had a different sort of immortality through his children and their children in turn.  He could have depended on them in a way he couldn’t depend on the American people.  But it was too late.  Four weeks later he was dead.  Despite all his money and power he was completely alone when he died, his ultimate terror realized.  (from a commencement address quoted in Holman Old Testament Commentary: Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs page 20.)

At one point the most powerful man in the world.  A few years later he died…alone.  Just one of many of the once great who are now footnotes in history.  Is it any wonder the “preacher” cried, ?“Vanity of vanities!  All is vanity?”  We live in a skeptical age, among jaded people.  Life has been robbed of any meaning.  The endless pursuit of materialism has proven fruitless.  The power of pleasure to satisfy has proved to be an illusion.  We are left to wonder, “Is life worth living?”  By the way we are not the first to wonder about that.  10 centuries before Christ a perceptive preacher asked, “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?”  In other words, “What profit is there in living?”  Our text this morning is found in chapter one of the book of Ecclesiastes.

Text: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
Admit it - this is an odd and confusing book!
It is part of the “wisdom literature” of the Old Testament.
Though the author is not named it has been assumed that Solomon authored this book.
That would make Solomon the author of three O.T books:
Song of Solomon or Song of Songs - written as a young man - about marital bliss.
Proverbs - written during midlife - extolling the virtue of wisdom rooted in the “fear of God.”
Ecclesiastes - written at the end of his life demonstrating the folly of life apart from God.

The book has been a source of conflict through the years.  There have been various approaches taken in trying to make sense of it.  Is this the rantings of an “eternal pessimist?”  Do we have here the reasoned arguments of a religious and philosophical skeptic?  It seems, at times, the author blatantly contradicts other Scripture or at least makes some very unorthodox statements.  When reading the book you get the idea the writer has “issues.”

But actually the dark, foreboding and brooding conclusions we find throughout the book are not the author’s final conclusions.  For his ultimate assessment we have to wait until the end of the book.  The preacher is “talking” through the issues.  He is speaking “out loud” as he works his way through these deep, theological and philosophical questions.

We begin in chapter 1.
The first 11 verses serve to remind us that…

Thesis: Life apart from Christ is a vain and empty pursuit.

There are three things I want to point out in our text.

1. Life apart from Christ is filled with never-ending drudgery that leads nowhere.  (1:1-8)
2. Life apart from Christ is a meaningless, monotonous existence.  (1:9-10)
3. Life apart from Christ is an empty memory.  (1:11)

Conclusion
“Pastor, thanks for the uplifting sermon today!”  That’s my point.  You cannot appreciate the wonder of God’s grace until you taste the despair of life without Him.  Friend, life apart from Christ is a vain and empty pursuit.  In contrast Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and that life in abundance.”

Introduction
I must admit, everything in me feels as if I should say, “Mr. Chairman the great state of Oklahoma cast all her delegates upon the next president of these United States - the honorable…”  I must acknowledge my struggle with this sort of celebration.  I fear too often there is a blurring of the line in Evangelical churches.  Often the church seems to equate patriotism and nationalism with the Gospel.  THAT IS A MISTAKE.  Yet I think it fitting that our celebration of the Nation’s birth begin here in the house of God.  For apart from the mercy of the Almighty there would be no United States of America.  No nation rises to power without his aid.  We are celebrating 234 years – young by the standards of history – yet the longest on-going constitutional republic in the history of the world.  I’m convinced it is the direct result of the blessing of God.  Not that America is perfect – for she most definitely is not!  And never has been.  Not that we are uniquely the people of God and stand entitled to special rank and privilege for we most certainly do not.  At the same time many today seek to “rewrite” our history.  Determined to downplay our Christian heritage modern day scholars say our Founders were at best Deists influenced by Enlightenment philosophy.  That’s simply not true.

While not all were devout, orthodox Christians – it is a fact that 27 of the original 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence held seminary degrees.  An honest reading of the founding documents and correspondence of the Founding Fathers reveals these are not the prayers and words of Deists!  In fact George Read, a delegate from Delaware, also considered to be “The Father of Delaware” wrote that state’s first laws and the 1776 Delaware Constitution. The Delaware Constitution initially read, “Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, shall make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: ‘I, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given.”  Hardly the words of a Deist.

A significant number of the signers were presidents or vice presidents of various Bible Societies.  Two of the Continental Congress’ first actions were to hire military chaplains and to purchase 20,000 Bibles to remedy a national shortage. America’s first Speaker of the House was the “Reverend” Frederick Muhlenberg.  The reverend John Witherspoon, president of Princeton University played a major role in the American Revolution.  While Witherspoon’s influence alone was extremely impressive, “The record of Princeton men who studied under Witherspoon is outstanding, including President James Madison [primary author of the U.S. Constitution], Vice-President Aaron Burr, nine cabinet officers, 21 United States senators, 39 members of the House of Representatives, three justices of the Supreme Court, 12 governors, and numerous delegates to the Constitutional Convention.”

Those who are upset when politicians make reference to Scripture and the wear their faith on their sleeve have obviously not read the Founders!  The language of Scripture and the Christian Faith has permeated our National rhetoric from the beginning.

Now before this turns into a political rally – let me hasten to say, I’m no Archie Bunker – “America love it or leave” – type.  I love my country.  I am proud to be an American – I wouldn’t trade it for anything – but I do not wear blinders.  I confess that I have a higher Loyalty.  And we, in the church, must not abandon our prophetic post.  We have a responsibility to speak to the nation – both the government and the citizenry.  We must not allow partisanship to distort our vision or silence our voice.  Corruption is corruption, evil is evil and injustice is injustice regardless of who is in “office.”  And we must not fail to hold the moral rope.  We must not fail to point to a higher standard.  We must speak the truth with passion and conviction.  In May of 1776, just weeks before America declared her independence, John Witherspoon declared, “He is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I do not hesitate to call him an avowed enemy of his country.”

Love of country and love of God are not antithetical.  God grant us the courage and boldness to speak with a true prophetic voice to the heart of our Nation.  Our text this morning is found in the 10th chapter of Hosea’s prophecy.

Text: Hosea 10:1-17
Israel is in its last days.  After repeated warning and extended grace – the time of judgment was at hand.  Hosea – whose name means “salvation” was called to close the book on the nation.  He was uniquely qualified – who knew the pain of spurned love.
He knew what it was to love a wayward spouse.  Thus he spoke with conviction and compassion – the awful truth was wrapped in love.

We would do well, on this celebration of our nation’s birth, to learn from Hosea the true nature of godly citizenship.  In our partisan culture – few statesmen are left.  Gone are those who love country above party; who are committed to truth rather than power; good rather than glory.  Hosea’s prophecy serves to remind us that:

Thesis: True love of country demands that the church fulfill its prophetic role.

There are four duties of a prophet reflected in our text.

1. The voice of the prophet dares to expose the nation’s shallow faith.  (10:1-3)
2. The prophetic voice boldly addresses the nation’s sins.  (10:4-11)
3. The voice of the prophet passionately pleads for repentance.  (10:12)
4. The voice of the prophet broken-heartedly declares the nation’s doom.  (10:13-15)

Conclusion:
God’s patience will not always abide with us.
Repeatedly turning a deaf ear to his commands – comes with a price.
We do no service to our great country by denying reality.
If we love this land – we must stand as the prophet:

• Exposing its shallow faith
• Addressing its sin
• Pleading for repentance
• Broken-heartedly declaring its doom.`

Introduction
It just didn’t make sense.  He had just experienced a great victory.  But instead of celebrating, he was pouting.  Instead of rejoicing, he wanted to be left alone.  In fact he just wanted to die.  Now that is hard to accept given the experience Elijah had on Mount Carmel.  You will remember his challenge to the priest of Baal.  You remember that after hours of pleading and extreme measures on their part – Baal never answered.  Elijah in confidence prayed a very simple prayer and the fire of God fell.  It was impressive.  Elijah was indeed the prophet of the living God.  But on the heels of that – Elijah became severely depressed.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon has been called “The Prince of Preachers.”  The great Baptist preacher of the 19th century was known around the world.  He spoke to thousands every week from the pulpit of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London.  His sermons were reprinted each week in newspapers throughout Britain, Europe and the United States.  He was, without a doubt, one of the most respected men of his day.  Yet he wrote out his resignation almost every week and suffered great bouts of depression.

I read a report back in the mid eighties that said every other hospital bed was occupied by a “mental patient.”  That meant a person whose condition was due to emotional issues.  Record numbers of people are on medication and/or receiving treatment for depression.  It is a major concern.  Depression is a genuine condition.  Often people do need medication because of a chemical imbalance and need counseling due to major traumatic events they have gone through.  That is not and indication of weakness on their part.  It is also true that all of us struggle with depression to some degree.  How do we fight it?  Can we win the battle?  That is the focus of our text found in Psalm 42.

Text: Psalm 42:1-11

This is the first psalm of book 2 (42-72).
We are told this is a psalm by the son’s of Korah.
The Korahites were Levites who performed temple music.

It is interesting to note that during the wilderness wanderings it was Korah who led a rebellion of 250 community leaders and their families (Numbers 16, Jude 11).
The sons of Korah were spared and were later dedicated to the glory of God.

James Boice entitles his study of this Psalm, “An Upward Look by a Downcast Soul.”  I think it is important to note from the outset that depression is a problem even among the people of God.  This is vital to note given the attitudes of many today who assume faith in Christ eliminates problems.  This is not a new problem.  Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the pastor of Westminster Chapel in London, published a book in 1965 entitled Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure, which remains one of his most widely circulated works.

Do you ever get depressed?  Are you ever down in the dumps?  If you say that you never sing the blues, I’ve just got one question for you, “What planet are you living on?”  You cannot travel this road of tears and not suffer occasional bouts of depression.  If you’ve lived any time at all you’ve experienced what some of the puritan writers called “the dark night of the soul.”

As we explore Psalm 42 I think we will discover:

Thesis: The righteous fight through depression by focusing on God’s goodness and grace.

Depression is not the kind of thing you can stop.
It is going to happen.
When life “dumps” on you – you’re going to get depressed.
When trauma comes, depression is sure to follow.

While it will not be eliminated down here – you can, by God’s grace overcome.  And we find some insight in this Psalm.  This is one of the most recognized Psalms because of the opening verses.

There are two truths I want you to take hold of this evening.

1. Even the righteous are prone to periods of doubt and depression.
2. The righteous find deliverance in facing depression head on.

Conclusion
Depression is going to come.  But you don’t have to live under it.  You, by the grace of God can overcome it.  How?  Recognize that it is part of life and then face it head on.  Fight through your depression and look to God’s goodness and grace.

Introduction
Donald McCullough mourned its practice in the mid nineties.  J.B. Phillips warned of its dangers in the mid sixties.  Tozer railed against it in the forties.  R.A. Torrey and others sounded the alarm at the turn of the century.  Phillips warned that our God was too small.  Torrey and company called for a return to fundamental truths.  McCullough decried the “trivialization of God.”  They all amount to the same thing – a pulling God down from the lofty heights to which he belongs and remaking him in our image.  Listen to most of the preaching today and you will hear of a “user friendly” God.  A God who is far more understanding of our weaknesses and far more sympathetic concerning our bent toward perversion.  Much of today’s “Christian music” sounds more like a top 20 love song than an expression of holy adoration and reverent worship.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not at all suggesting that only music written 300 years ago is appropriate for worship!  Neither am I suggesting that nothing worthwhile has been written in the last 30 years.  I am suggesting that there has been a general loss of wonder and awe.

Oh we sing Our God is an Awesome God and I Stand Amazed in the Presence of Jesus the Nazarene – it’s just that we are not awed and we do not stand amazed!  They are merely words.  We have lost the wonder.  Amazing Grace has become routine.  Our worship is matter of fact.  We have “handled” sacred things to the point they are no longer sacred.  This is why we are to cultivate a “child-like” faith.  Not a childish faith – but a child-like faith.  A child-like faith is the kind of faith that can look at something for an hour without loosing that sense of wonder.  And child-like faith leads to glorious worship.  Glorious worship does not demand bells, whistles and show-stopping music.  Glorious worship is a heart matter!  Our text this evening is found in the 114th Psalm.

Text: Psalm 114:1-8

This is the second in the six Psalms of the “Egyptian Hallel” (113-118).
To be sung at the three major feasts – dedication, new moon and Passover.
It is a brief Psalm but one of great significance.

Spurgeon called it “sublime.”

Derek Kinder says it recalls the Exodus, not as a familiar event from Israel’s past but rather as an “astonishing event: as startling as a clap of thunder, as shattering as an earthquake.”

As we explore the 4 stanzas of this brief hymn we discover the…

Thesis: Three marks of child-like faith.

1. Stanza 1 serves to remind us that child-like faith – Rejoices in God’s deliverance of and dwelling with His people.  (114:1-2)
2. The second stanza reminds us that – Child-like faith celebrates God’s protection and provision.  (114:3-4)
3. Stanzas three and four serve to remind us that – Child-like faith trembles before God’s majesty and might.  (114:5-8)

Child-like faith rejoices and celebrates but it also trembles!
The word means to twist or writhe.
It is not a “comfortable” thing.

We are far too comfortable with the holy – which would indicate and inadequate view of God and an inflated view of ourselves.

May God grant to us a child-like faith – one that:
Rejoices in God’s deliverance and his dwelling with his people;
Celebrates God’s protection and provision;
Trembles before God’s majesty and might.

Introduction
There are appropriate and inappropriate responses.  I remember one night at the dinner table I didn’t care for what we were having for our evening meal.  My dad said, “You need to be grateful for what you have.  There are a lot of kids in this world who would love to have what’s on your plate.”  I said, “Well you can ship this to them because I don’t like it.”  That’s the one time my father hit me.  The back of his hand across my smart mouth said, unmistakably, “THAT’S NOT APPROPRIATE!”  I had told the professor that if I missed class in the next few days it would be because our first child was due any time now.  Upon returning to class for the first time after Zac’s birth Dr. Dominy approached me with a big smile, “Well boy or girl?”  “It’s a boy!  We named him Bert (my professor’s first name) because he doesn’t have any hair either.”  Immediately after thinking, “I hope I didn’t actually say that” - I knew - not an appropriate response.

Responses say a lot about those who so respond.  Obviously my responses reveal a lack of control and a smart mouth.  I’ve known, and you know, people who cry at the drop of a hat.  Sensitive, caring people who feel everyone’s hurt and have an amazing capacity for empathy.  You also know people who “fly off the handle” with the least little provocation.  Everything is a big deal.  The smallest question is received as the greatest attack.  Somewhere between always crying and never crying is a balanced position.  Somewhere between always mad and never mad is a healthy, reasonable response.

As Paul comes to the end of his letter to the church at Rome we find an appropriate response.  It is the most natural way to end the letter.  Here is this grand and glorious statement of the gospel.  It would hardly seem appropriate if Paul concluded by saying, “Thanks for listening.  You’ve been a great audience and we’ll see you down the road.”  That just wouldn’t do this letter justice.  No, Paul’s closing doxology is a fitting end to this glorious letter.  Our text this morning is found in Romans 16 beginning at verse 25.

Text: Romans 16:25-27
Paul began by saying man is a sinner.
His sin is so pervasive that he is totally or radically depraved.
Man is sinful beyond his ability to effect a cure.
He cannot save himself - more than that he cannot contribute to his own salvation.
But God, in grace and mercy, in kindness and love has provided a means of salvation.
God has given his Son, the Lord Jesus, who is both the sacrifice and the one offering sacrifice.
Salvation is by grace, through faith in Christ alone.
As a part of this great saving work the Spirit takes up residence in every believer.
He cries, “Abba!  Father!”
As a result there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
And there is no separation - for nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus…
God is faithful to His people and His promise (9-11).
With this new life come certain obligations or responsibilities (12-15).

With chapter 16 Paul sends greeting to his various friends there at Rome (1-16).
He calls on the church to be “on guard” against those who cause divisions (17-20).
Other’s send their greetings (21-24).

Then comes this burst of praise to close the letter.  That is our focus for this morning.  Paul’s heart started to sing once before (11:36).  It was Paul’s custom to close his letters in his own hand.  We know this because of 2 Thessalonians 3:17-18.  With his closing remarks we are reminded that…

Thesis: The only legitimate response to the message of God’s saving love is a sense of profound worship.

There are two things I want to point out quickly.

1. The worshiping heart rejoices in God’s establishing, enabling power.  (16:25-26)
2. The worshiping heart stands in awe of God’s glory.  (16:27)

I’ve heard it more times than I can count.  I’m sitting in a home visiting with a family before a funeral.  I’ve been called by the funeral home and asked to do the service because the family has no church connection.  And one of the family will say, “Daddy never went to church.  He just worshiped God in his own way.”  I’ve had men tell me, “I worship God when I’m out on the lake fishing.”  I don’t say it – but I think it – “Just how much worship goes on while you’re out on the lake?  Please describe the average service there in the boat.”  I don’t doubt that God’s name comes up – I’m just not sure it is expressed in a worshipful manner!  An increasing number of folks fail to see the church as relevant to their spiritual lives.  The church is full of hypocrites.  The church is outdated.  The church is stuck in the past.  The music belongs in a museum.  The sermon is a history lesson.  In short, the church has nothing to offer me.  Given the access we know enjoy through the internet do we need a local church?  What is the value of being in a church when I have access to the greatest teachers in the church 24 hours a day 7 days a week through my computer?  I meet with a couple of friends at least once a week and we discuss the Bible and what the Lord is doing in our lives.  We are accountable to each other – why do I need a church?  Most of the folks at church aren’t committed to God and all they are interested in is my money.  Why bother with joining a church.  I just don’t need the headache.  How do you answer that?  What would you say to that person?

We are considering the “church.”
Three weeks ago we talked about the “church dater.”
Those who flirt with the church but refuse to make a real commitment.
Two weeks ago we look carefully at the Church as the “bride of Christ.”
We talked about how marriage was created to mirror the relationship of Christ and His Church.
We also consider the church as a body and a living temple.
Now this evening, “Why do I need the church?”

Let’s start by acknowledging that this is a legitimate question to be asking.
It would be easy to brush this aside and say, “What a silly question, of course you need the church.”  Really?  Why?
As one who has put his trust in Jesus Christ, I’m already part of the Church, why do I need to belong to one of the thousands of fragmented groups called churches?  I’ve been accepted by God, I’m loved by Christ why do I need the church (little “c”)?
Let me give you the short answer: because the local church is a visible, tangible, real-world expression of the body of Christ.

What is it that the church does best?
The local church is the best means for showing your neighbors the transforming power of the Gospel in granting to you new life and that new life becoming the foundation for a new society.

• Baptism – marks us as the people of God.  It declares I’ve identified with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection (Matthew 28:19, Romans 6:4).
• The Lord’s Supper – shows our continuing fellowship in Christ (Mt. 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25).
• Church Discipline – shows the world we are serious about walking in obedience before Christ and are committed to one another for spiritual good/development (Mt. 18, 1 Corinthians 5).

Let me give you two other reasons for why you need the church.

1. You need the church because sanctification is a community project.
2. You need the church in order to worship appropriately.

The church matters and you need to be a part of it because:

• The local church is a visible, tangible, real-world expression of the body of Christ.
• When a church lives out the Gospel together it displays the transforming effects of the Gospel for the world to see.
• Sanctification is a community project.
• It is the means of worshiping God appropriately.

Introduction
One of my favorite philosophers is the great Yogi Berra.  Yogi has been credited with great insights like, “It ain’t over until it’s over” and “when you come to a fork in the road take it.”  Of course Yogi also said, “I didn’t say all those things I said.”  But my favorite “Yogism” is, “You can observe a lot just by watching.”  You have to admit that is true!  You can also learn a lot just by listening.  You can learn a lot about a person by what they say.  You learn what is important to them and what they value just by observing their conversations.  This is especially true in “unguarded” moments.  Off hand comments.  Incidental statements.  That means there are things to be learned in those passages we often skip over in the biblical text.  Text like the close of Paul’s great letter to the church at Rome.  The apostle has given this great statement on the gospel.  He has delivered this profound theological treatise on salvation by grace through faith, then he called his readers to live a life founded upon those truths.  As he concludes his monumental work he sends greetings to some of the faithful in Rome.  Our tendency is to skip over those remarks or give them a cursory read.  But that is a mistake.  To do so is to miss something helpful.  Here, in these closing remarks, is a great insight into the heart of this great servant of Christ.

Last time we considered the marks of a missionary heart as we worked through chapter 15.  We saw that the missionary heart views all of life as service to God.  Every act is a sacrificial act, a priestly service to Christ and his kingdom.  Further the missionary heart is focused on the glory of God, it dares to dream big and knows the task cannot be accomplished alone.  But that is not the whole story.  Those 4 characteristics are vertically oriented.  They are concerned with God and his glory.  What about the horizontal?  What about concern for our fellow man?  What about our heart for other believers?  That will be our focus this morning in chapter 16.

Text: Romans 16:1-23
He is a towering figure in the Scripture.
A man of great intellect - holding what will be the equivalent of multiple doctorates.
A man of unquestioned spirituality.
Author of roughly half the New Testament.
A pioneer for the gospel and the kingdom.
But what I’m interested in, for our purpose this morning, is his heart.

Allow me to point out three marks of a missionary heart from our text.

1. A missionary heart loves profoundly.  (16:1-16)
2. A missionary heart is passionate about the truth.  (16:17-20)
3. The missionary heart is contagious in its enthusiasm.  (16:21-23)

So we have the heart of a missionary - loving, passionate about truth and contagious in its enthusiasm.  Does that describe your heart?  If a visitor attends your Sunday School class, your Bible study - is that the impression they leave with?  How about a worship service?

Introduction
We’ve been commanded to “take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”  We are told to preach the Gospel to all the world.  That is not a unique assignment given to a select few, that is our Lord’s call to all the people of God.  We, you and me, have an obligation to be on mission.  “Oh, I’m not called to the mission field.”  Really?  Are you a Christian?  Then you are a missionary.  You are called.  It was Spurgeon who said, “Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor.”  Where is your mission field?  It is all around you and the fields are white unto harvest.  It used to be popular to have signs at the exist of churches reading, “You are now entering the mission field.”  I like that.  It is certainly true and it was a good reminder that we are always and everywhere on mission.  But the truth is the mission field was in the hallway leading to that door.  It was in every classroom.  It was in the worship center.  Anywhere there is a person who has not yielded his or her heart to Christ and become engaged in the worship of the true and living God there is a mission field.  The passion, the heartbeat, of the church is to spread the name and the fame of our God.  Some will be called to give their lives in foreign lands for the sake of that glorious name.  If that is God’s call to your heart you must not settle for anything less.  Others will serve on short-term trips to various peoples.  Others will never set foot in a foreign land but they will weep over the peoples of the world and bath them in the tears of their prayers.  Some will preach in cathedrals and country churches.  Some will fill stadiums and convention halls.  While others will cradle babies and sing them sweet gospel songs and tell them of Jesus who died and rose again.  Some will knock on doors and boldly testify of God’s saving power.  Others will quietly serve their neighbor and gently speak of Jesus’ love.  But this one thing is certain none of us can claim exemption from missionary service.

Whether it is across the street or across the globe, whether it is through bold proclamation or quiet service we are under orders to take the message of God’s love revealed in redemption through Christ’s blood to our world.  We are a people on mission.  And the task is not complete until every living soul is actively engaged in the worship of God or we are called home.  His is an amazing story.  He “got it.”  He understood that he was called.  It was his consuming passion and thus he is a great example for us to follow.  Our text this morning give us some insight into the great missionary heart of the apostle Paul.

Text: Romans 15:14-33
Paul is nearing the end of his great letter to the church at Rome.
He has demonstrated our desperate need.
He has made clear God’s great provision.
He has revealed that salvation is by grace, through faith.
He has laid out the sanctifying work of the Spirit.
He has declared that God is faithful both to his people and his promise.

Paul has also spoke clearly about the life we’ve been called to live.
We’ve seen that church is about living the faith together.
This passage reveals somethings about the heart behind Paul’s ministry.

How do I know if my heart is where it needs to be?  How can I be sure my mind is focused as it should be?  I want to be on mission - how do I get there?  As we walk through this passage together I want to point out 4 marks of a missionary heart.

1. The missionary heart views all of life as service to God and that life is to be lived for the benefit of others.  (15:15-16)
2. The missionary heart remains focused on God’s glory.  (15:17-19)
3. The missionary heart dares to dream big.  (15:20-29)
4. The missionary heart knows the mission cannot be accomplished alone.  (15:30-33)

Introduction
If you knew that you had 24 hours to live what would you do?  It is an interesting question.  One day left on this earth, how would you spend it?  One thing is certain your answer would reveal what is important to you.  Your answer would tell us what really matters to you.  The truth is none of us know what we would do.  We can speculate.  We can say what we would hope that we would do but there is no way of knowing with certainty what we would do if put in that circumstance.  Of course the other thing is none of us knows how much time we have left.  But there is one who knew exactly how much time he had and we know what he did.  After three years of ministry Jesus announced his time had come.  He set his face as a flint and he marched toward Jerusalem for the last time.  His disciples begged him not to go.  They said this is the wrong time.  “The authorities are determined to kill you.  Don’t go.  Not now.”  Jesus said, “Now is the time.”  He was welcomed in triumph on that Sunday as he made his way into Jerusalem.  By Friday he had been arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to die.  How did he spend his last day?  With his disciples, teaching them about the kingdom of God and he prayed.  What did he pray?  It is recorded for us in John chapter 17.

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.  (17:11)

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me…”  (17:20-21)

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one…  (17:22)

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.  (17:23)

It is significant, given the circumstance, that this was Jesus’ prayer.  Think about it.  There is so much he could have been praying for but foremost in his mind was that the church would be one.  His prayer was for unity within the body of Christ.  Why was that so important?  Because it has a direct bearing on the church’s message and credibility, “So that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”  The quality or degree of our unity will either attract or repel the world.  They will either be draw to our message or drive from our message by the quality of our life together.

The church, because it is made up of people like you and me, has struggled with this from the beginning.  The church of Galatia was fragmented due to legalism.  The church at Corinth chose sides based on favorite leaders.  Pergamum was divided and diluted because believers had married unbelievers.  Things were so bad in Laodicea that our Lord just said they made him sick.  Many believe there were real problems in Rome.  Some have suggested that petty bickering and bitter rivalry caused some members to turn on others and even give them over to the authorities declaring them traitors to the Empire.  The modern church doesn’t fair any better.  Churches divided over the color of carpet or which side of the auditorium the piano belongs on are all too common.  Thus Paul’s message to Rome is as important and pertinent today as it was 2000 years ago.  The need is for unity.  Our text is found in Romans 15 beginning with verse 1.

Text: Romans 15:1-13

Again we are talking about life as God intends it.
The church is about our living the faith together.
This is the laboratory where we learn to love and forgive.
This is the place where we butt heads and learn to get along.

In chapter 14 Paul makes it clear we are not to sit in judgment of one another.  When it comes to disputed matters or matters of conscience we are to be convinced in our own minds and grant freedom to others to disagree or see things differently.  Further we are not to be the source of our brother’s failure.  Love reigns in liberty.  I choose to limit my freedom for my brother’s sake.

As we consider the opening section of chapter 15 I want us to see that…
Thesis: The church that genuinely honors Christ diligently seeks to display biblical unity.

2 things are clear as we follow Paul’s argument.

1. Unity demands that we follow Christ’s example of patience and selfless sacrifice in dealing with one another’s weaknesses and failures.  (15:1-6)
2. Unity demands wholehearted acceptance of others with the goal of establishing a fellowship filled with joy, marked by peace and abounding in hope.  (15:7-13)

Conclusion:

• This is a tall order but it is not as if we have nothing to guide us.
• We have our own experience of grace and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
• And this is to what end?
• 15:3 - that we might be a place filled with joy, marked by peace and abounding in hope.  That is the fruit of genuine biblical unity and that is to be the goal of this fellowship.

Introduction
The language is vivid, bold and undeniable.  That’s what makes it so terrifying.  God is coming in judgment of the nations.  He is coming in judgment of those who continue in unbelief regardless of where they live or what nation they call home.  For He is the righteous Judge of all the earth.  It is to Him every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.  When that day is described as a day of “distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry” you understand it will be a day of terror.  If you dwell on that message for any length of time you will get depressed.  It is a message, if you believe it, that will eat at you.  If you understand that He means what He says, you will live in dread.  And if that was His final word you would have nothing to live for.  But it is not His final word.  His message of judgment is accompanied by a word of hope.  For instance at the end of Amos, after the prophet thunders the judgment of God he ends with these words, “I will plant them (Israel) on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them, says the LORD your God” (Amos 9:15).  He is a God of grace and mercy, a God of kindness and love, and so the prophet Zephaniah ends not with judgment but with hope.  Our text this evening is found in Zephaniah chapter 3 beginning with verse 9.

Text: Zephaniah 3:9-20

1:1-3:8 speaks of a coming Day of Wrath.
3:9-20 speaks of a coming Day of Joy.
A day that promises both conversion and restoration.
This promise of conversion and restoration does not replace judgment but comes after judgment.
It is a mistake to assume that grace demands that judgment be turned away.
There have been repeated offers of grace.
There have been multiple pleas to repent.
Now judgment must come - but there is life after judgment for that remnant that believes.

Back in the 1st section 1:1-2:3 - there was the threat of judgment and a call for repentance.
In section 2 2:4-3:8 - that same message was taken to the Judah and the surrounding nations.
Now comes the promise of a New Day.
A day of blessing and peace all because of the grace of God.
Judah doesn’t deserve a new day.
The surrounding nations do not deserve blessing.

As we walk through the remainder of this book I want to point out three things as we seek to draw words of encouragement and hope for today from this sermon from the 7th century b.c.

1. A call for self-examination - (3:9-13)
2. A Cause for rejoicing.  (3:14-15)
3. The comfort of resting in His promise.  (3:16-20)

There’s a new day dawning.  A day of joy and peace for the people of God.

• Are you in that believing remnant?
• Are you part of that worshiping crowd?
• Are you trusting in His precious promise?

Introduction
It’s the thing that brings beauty to the symphony.  It is what enables each individual instrument to shine and yet become part of a greater beauty.  Harmony or unity within diversity.  No one wants to go to a concert and hear a monotone performance any more than they want chaos.  Each instrument doing its own thing without regard for the others is just noise, it’s grating and irritating.  But the whole, brought under the control of the conductor, playing off one another and working in harmony is exquisite.  So it is within the church.  “How beautiful it is for brothers to dwell together in unity,” the Scripture says.  On the other hand there is nothing as ugly, irritating or discouraging as a divided, dysfunctional and disjointed church.  The Bible is clear when you come to faith in Christ you are not left to your own devices.  You are made part of the whole.  You are made part of the body of Christ and God intends that you join with a local body of believers where you share your life, give your talents and seek to grow and mature in your faith.  The church is the place where we live our faith together.

Thus the church is essential to our well being spiritually.  You cannot be the person God has called you to be if you are not vitally and essentially tied to a local church.  Now listen to what I said.  I did not say you cannot be a Christian.  I said you cannot be the person God has called you to be if you are not tied to or connected with a church.  It is here in the laboratory of living together that we learn how to love and how to forgive.  It is here in the daily business of life together we knock the rough edges off each other and begin to look more like the Lord Jesus.  But life together is not easy.  Sometimes you make me mad.  Sometimes I tick you off.  We say stupid things to each other.  We can be uncaring and hurtful.  We are, after all, flawed children of Adam.  The issue is, what do we do about it?  How do we respond to the hurt and the disappointment?  Too often we in the church exhibit more of the power of the world to divide then we do the power of the Gospel to make us one.  As Dr. MacGorman used to say to us in seminary, “A divided church has nothing to say to a broken world.”

The church is to be a place of harmony.  A place of love, compassion and acceptance.  It is here we ought to feel the freedom to fail.  It  is here we ought to feel the freedom to confess our sin knowing that we are going to find love and acceptance.  It is here we ought to be able to confess our doubts and fears knowing that there are others who’ve traveled this road and know those same doubts and fears.  We ought to be able to question and express our differences knowing that iron sharpens iron.  It is here we ought to hear the sweet song of the Gospel bringing peace to our soul.  Sure we are all different.  We are each unique but together, under the Lordship of Christ, we are to be God’s symphony.  Our text this morning is found in the 14th chapter of Paul’s letter to the church at Rome.

Text: Romans 14:13-23
This is life as God intends. Last time looked at “disputed matters.” Those questions not spelled out explicitly in the Scripture. Those areas where there is room for honest disagreement between genuine believers. Issues about which we may have strong feelings but issues not worth dividing over. Paul continues that line of thought.

Last time was about how we ought to look at things.

• We are to embrace fellow believers as brothers & sisters to be loved and not as projects of reform.
• We are to ensure that our own hearts are right when it comes to disputed matters.
• We are to remember that we will each stand before God and give an account for our own life.

This morning we turn our attention to the demands of biblical unity.  How do we build on the foundation Christ has laid?  What are we to do to maintain the unity of the Spirit?  As we explore our text we are going to discover that…

Thesis: Biblical unity demands an eternal perspective, a steadfast determination and a guiding conviction.

There are three demands of biblical unity found in this text.

1. Unity within the body demands a steadfast determination not to be a source of stumbling.  (14:13-15)
2. Unity within the body demands a fixed point of reference anchored to that which is eternal.  (14:16-18)
3. Unity within the body demands a settled conviction about the importance of edification and self-sacrifice.  (14:19-23)

Introduction
This may shock you but I’ve actually heard of Baptist churches fighting!  Can you imagine such a thing?  Christian people getting in heated arguments and then deciding to go their separate ways.  Shocking!  I wish it were shocking but the truth is it is fairly commonplace.  The number one way of starting “new works” in Baptist life is called, “The Church Split.”  When you read our own church history you will find that a group of people came “out of” the Clinton Memorial Church and founded Trinity.  A few years later an offer of reconciliation was made and our church minutes state, “the offer was graciously refused.”  When I was in seminary we had no classes on Mondays due to the number of students who traveled a great distance to serve churches on the weekend.  I had a Tuesday class that always began with prayer and prayer requests.  I remember one rather distraught classmate who raised his hand with a prayer request.  “Yes sir, I’d like prayer for me and for my church.  We had business meeting Sunday night and well…there was a lot of screaming and yelling and then they started throwing hymnals at each other.”  I will admit that occasionally churches fight over something worth fighting over but for the most part churches are destroyed by minor issues that get blown out of proportion by self-interest and petty bickering.  Note I did not say there are no issues - there always are.  I am not saying they are issues that do not matter - the often do.  The problem is they way we respond to such issues.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed this but we Baptist tend to be stubborn, independent-minded people.  Add to that the fact that we tend to have an opinion about everything.  If you put three Baptists in a room and ask once question you’ll get at least 10 different opinions.  If you wed that attitude with passion it becomes a volatile mix.  We’ve got ourselves a problem.  The church is made up of people and that means there will always be differences of opinions and perspectives.  Yes, I know, Scripture is our authority.  Yes, we are a body under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  But what do we do when we come upon matters that are not explicitly spelled out in Scripture?  What do we do with things not addressed directly in the Bible?  Just how are we to live out our faith together in disputed matters?  That’s our focus this morning as we come to the 14th chapter of Romans.

Text: Romans 14:1-12

Paul is dealing with the life we’ve been called to live.
In light of what God has done for you in Christ, live this way.

From this text there are three principles that ought to guide us.

1. As members of Christ’s body, the church, we are to embrace fellow believers as brothers and sisters to be loved not as projects of reform.  (14:1-4)
2. As members of Christ’s body, the church, we are to ensure that our own heart is right when it comes to disputed matters.  (14:5-9)
3. As members of Christ’s body, the church, we are to understand that we will each give an account of our own life before God.  (14:10-12)

So what does all this mean?  As pilgrims and fellow travelers we must form a loving, nurturing relationship that allows for disagreements in nonessentials while graciously spurring one another on to love and good deeds.

Introduction
It is not a popular message.  In fact in many quarters it is laughingly dismissed as the ravings of “simple-minded Bible thumpers.”  Most think the only place it can be heard is in a metropolitan downtown spoken by some wild-eyed street preacher with a big sign announcing the end of the world.  But it is standard fare in the Word of God.  This world is going somewhere.  It is moving toward an end.  When that time comes there will be an accounting.  Individuals no longer believe that.  Skeptics laugh at it.  Nations don’t even give it a thought yet, according to the Scripture, the Day of the LORD is at hand and the call is for repentance before it is too late.  His name was Zephaniah and while his message may have played a part in a minor revival during the time of king Josiah it was, for the most part, ignored by the masses.  The message of that 7th century prophet is just as relevant today as then.  In a world where unrighteousness is celebrated and lawlessness abounds we would do well to remember our God is the righteous ruler of all the earth and all nations will one day answer to Him.  Our text this evening is found in chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Zephaniah.

Text: Zephaniah 2:4-3:8

I realize that what I just said is politically incorrect.
More than that it sounds awfully arrogant.
Many in our pluralistic world cry, “Foul!” when such dogmatic statements are made.
How arrogant to think that your religion is superior.
How foolish to think that your God is the only true God.
But if I accept this book as the Word of God, I have no choice but to think those thoughts.

This book reveals that there is a God who created everything.  And He created it out of nothing.  He spoke and the world came into existence.  That God had a relationship with man (who was created in His own image and likeness).  When man sinned and thus broke relationship - God came seeking him.  God restored the relationship.  God made forgiveness possible.  That God called out a man name Abram and from him built a nation uniquely His own.  Through that people God revealed himself.  Giving them His law to guide and instruct them and the tabernacle that He might dwell with them.  That God is intimately involved in His creation.  Nations rise and fall according to His desire.  His purpose cannot fail.  His kingdom will prevail.  Both men and nations are accountable to Him.  That is the message of this book and that is the message of Zephaniah His prophet.
Zephaniah serves as a summary of the pre-exilic prophets.
His message echos that of Amos, Joel, Jeremiah and Nahum.
As we explore our text this evening we discover that…

Thesis: The prophet Zephaniah thunders against the nations declaring that God is the God of all the earth and that nations will answer to Him.

Let me point out three things from our text.

1. God is coming in sweeping judgment of the unbelieving nations.  (2:4-15)
2. God is coming in judgment of His own people because of their wicked unbelief.  (3:1-4)
3. God as the sovereign and righteous judge of all the earth will bring an end to wickedness and unbelief.  (3:5-8)

Conclusion
Do you remember the story that Jesus told in Matthew 21?

We stand this side of the cross.  When God asks today, “What more can I do?  I have sent my Son, and they have killed even him.”  There is far more cause for judgment than for Judah in days of Zephaniah.  You’ve heard the Gospel.  You’ve been told of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.  You have the benefit of 2000 years of Gospel preaching.  When you turn your back - what more can be done?  I must say a judgment every bit as devastating as fell on the inhabitants of Jerusalem will fall on you.

Fortunately for us God’s mercy is great.  His patience is long-suffering and therefore there is hope.  Come to Christ and live.

Introduction
What they accomplished is nothing short of extraordinary.  In a relatively short period of time they went from an obscure religious offshoot to a major player.   It was completely against the odds.  The other astonishing thing was that it crossed racial, political, ethnic and social boundaries.  What was it that propelled the church from obscurity to the limelight?  Of course it was the hand of God but what did God use to so impact the world?  It was the power of transformed lives.  It was the wonder of new life in Christ.  Specifically it was the wonder of a “new people” formed by the love of God.  You have to understand the world in which the church was born was a very divided world.  Language, religion, national animosities, differences of sex split the world up into alien fragments.  You had the learned and the unlearned, the slave and the master, the barbarian and the Greek each stood on opposite sides of a great gulf connected only by hostility and animosity.  It was into this world Christ issued a new commandment, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.”  The result?  Through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit barbarian and Scythian, bond and free, male and female, Jew and Greek, learned and ignorant clasped hands and sat at one table and considered themselves “one in Christ Jesus.”  A people marked by love, driven by a sense of urgency and growing in holiness.  This morning we consider the marks of a transformed life and our text is found in Romans chapter 13.

Text: Romans 13:8-14

It is a tall order - offer your bodies a living sacrifice…(daily, continuously).
When we come to faith we assume some obligations.
It is not a matter of “believing in Jesus” and then go to heaven when you die.
As the people of God there are things demanded of us.
We are called to live according the law of Christ.
We are to bear the family resemblance.
That is what this last section of Paul’s letter to the Romans is all about.
In light of Romans 1-11 live this way.

With that in mind I want to point out three marks of the transformed life from this passage.

1. The life transformed by the touch of God’s grace is motivated by a profound sense of indebtedness.  (13:8-10)
2. The life transformed by the touch of God’s grace is driven by a sense of urgency.  (13:11-12a)
3. The life transformed by the touch of God’s grace is animated by a desire for holiness.  (13:12b-14)

Thesis: The transformed life is a life motivated by love, driven by a sense of urgency and animated by a desire for holiness.

Introduction
He is one of the least read, least understand and least appreciated prophets.  His prophecy of just three chapters is often overlooked and in academic circles has been roundly criticized.  In fact in the scholarly world he is often dismissed as “dull” and “derivative.”  One writer saying, “With the prophet Zephaniah we meet for the first time a considerable diminution of prophetic originality.”  Translation - this guy has nothing new to say!  Another quips, “He can hardly be considered a great poet.”  There are worse things to be known for as a preacher than - he isn’t very original and his message doesn’t sound pretty.  It is the job of the prophet to bring someone else’s message.  The prophet is to stand and declare, “Thus says the Lord!”  Points are not given for originality or presentation.  He was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Habakkuk and Nahum.  He is one of the prophets before the exile calling the nation to repentance.  In the canon he is the last of the pre-exilic prophets which may indicate that his prophecy is to be considered a summary of the ones who came before.  It is obvious that he echos the messages of Amos, Joel and others.  His name is Zephaniah and he is the great, great grandson of Hezekiah a good and godly king who served the nation well.  His prophecy came before the fall of Jerusalem and prior to the fall of Nineveh but during the reign of Josiah.  So we place his time of ministry around 630 B.C.  Tonight we begin a look at the book of Zephaniah.

Text: Zephaniah 1:1-2:3

It was a time of peril and promise.  The nation of Judah was entering her last days.  Prophet after prophet had called the nation to repentance but to no avail.  God had warned that judgment was coming.  Now he is readying His weapon of choice the vile, wicked Babylonians.  Judah went about her business thinking all is well when another of those pesky prophets came with his message of doom and gloom.

Messages of judgment weren’t any more popular then than now.  No one wants to here about God coming in judgment.  God is supposed to do good things.  God is here to help us feel better about ourselves and help us get through this mess.  The people of 630 B.C. Wanted to hear upbeat messages filled with practical insight for living the life they wanted.  Does that sound the least bit familiar?

Then along comes Zephaniah and what is his message?  A message of desolation, darkness and ruin.  23 times in just three chapters he warns of the coming “Day of the LORD.”  By the way, it’s not a good day!  It is a day of judgment and terror.

Thesis: God in sovereign judgment pours out His wrath on unrepentant sin and yet in sovereign mercy offers hope to humble, repentant sinners.

You will remember we saw this same dual emphasis in Jeremiah.

• Wrath and mercy.
• Both sovereignly administered.

I’m convinced this message is need as much today as it was in the 7th century B.C.  For the most part our world doesn’t believe in the wrath of God.  They do not believe that a day of judgment is coming.  But then why would they when so many in the church no longer believe it?  It is the testimony of Scripture and it is certainly the truth driven home in this text.

There are three things I want to call to your attention.

1. God’s sovereign wrath is a fearful and frightening thing.  (1:1-3, 13-18)
2. God’s sovereign wrath is in response to man’s wicked ways.  (1:4-12)
   1. There were religious reasons for God’s judgment - 1:4-6
   2. Social practices or customs - 1:8-9
   3. Business practices - 1:11
   4. Apathy and Indifference  - 1:12
3. God’s sovereign wrath is accompanied by a plea for repentance and the possibility of mercy.  (2:1-3)

Introduction
We live in interesting times politically.  Matters political have become increasingly divisive.  Rhetoric is increasingly hostile.  Tempers flare and those who differ are considered enemies.  If you are a Republican, Democrats can’t do any thing right.  If you are a Democrat, Republicans are hate mongers.  If you are a Libertarian everyone else is an idiot.  Lines are drawn, positions are taken and minds never change.  This side says that side cannot be trusted.  This source says that source is biased.  Any attempt to negotiate or compromised is attacked by both sides claiming it is a sell out.  What are we to do?  What is the Scriptural response to the current political climate?  Are we to rush out and “throw in” with the Tea Party movement?  Are we to withdraw and removed ourselves from such nonsense as political parties and movements and not soil ourselves with the business of this world?  Should we merely busy ourselves with the kingdom of God and leave politics to the Devil and his crowd?  After all trying to salvage the ship of state is a bit like polishing brash on the Titanic - what good will it due the ship is going down anyway.  How are we to deal with government?  Our text is found in the 13th chapter of Romans.

Text: Romans 13:1-7

Paul is dealing with the transformed life. The section began with a call to sacrifice and commitment - 12:1-2. Beginning with 12:3 Paul is showing what this transformed life looks like. This is life as God intends us to live. This is the life He expects from us.

Having dealt with how we view ourselves and others it is no surprise Paul turns his attention to how we relate to government.  This is a natural question in light of a couple of things Paul has said.  Take for instance that statement in 12:2 - “do not be conformed to this world (age) but rather be transformed…”

Consider Romans 8:34-38 - focus in on 8:36 (quoting Psalm 44:22).
What is to be the attitude of the church toward the government that sees its members as sheep to be slaughtered?

Understand the historical context:

• The political climate in Rome was especially volatile at this time.
• The Jews had been expelled from Rome under emperor Claudius.
• Paul was concerned the Zionist’s attitudes would spill over into the church.

Also remember the words of Jesus when He was approached by some of the religious leaders in another of their attempts to trap Him.  The story is told in Matthew 22.

We are told the Pharisees and Herodians teamed up for this. Politics makes strange bedfellows! Note their question, it is brilliant - Mt. 22:17. It’s a no win question - either treason against Rome or anti-patriot toward Israel. Jesus’ response - 22:19-22 - masterful political statement. Coin = minted by Rome. You = minted by God. Render to Caesar the things of Caesar and to God the things of God.

Romans 13:1-7 is Paul’s exposition of Jesus’ teaching.

Thesis: Citizenship in the Kingdom of God includes a corresponding responsibility towards earthly powers.

There is a tension in this life for the people of God.  We are citizens of two kingdoms.  There is to be no question as to our supreme loyalty - we belong to Christ!  We are pilgrims looking for a city whose builder and maker is God but at the same time we live as citizens in this world.  Life here has its obligations as well.  That is what our text is about.

In our text three things are made clear about how the transformed life interacts with earthly kingdoms.

1. The transformed life responds to government with profound submission and loyal obedience.  (13:1-2)
   1. A surprising principle - 13:1
   2. A sound reason - 13:1
   3. An inescapable conclusion - 13:2
2. The transformed life recognizes government’s God-ordained role and purpose.  (13:3-4)
3. The transformed life renders government its due.  (13:5-7)

Andrew is a 2009 graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University, and is currently enrolled in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s extension program at OBU.

Introduction
It sounds easy enough but boy is it ever difficult.  I mean when you look at it on paper you say, “Sure, that’s right.”  Putting it into practice is the problem.  Standing up here on sitting in a class room it is easy to say, “We need to love others.”  No one is going to disagree with that.  No one is going to say, “No.  I think we need some good old fashion hate!”  The problem is when I put a face to the statement.  The Bible is clear I do not have the luxury of choosing who I love.  In fact I’m told to love my neighbor as myself.  And the context tells me my neighbor is anyone in need.  The Bible says I’m to love the body of Christ, the church.  But folks at church are not always lovable.  The worst thing is the Bible says I’m to love my enemies.  Now that is just ridiculous.  “Well pastor I’d rather die than do that.”  That’s good because you’re going to have to die if you are going to do it.  We’ve been considering the life we’ve been called to as the people of God.  “Wait!  There are demands?  Obligations?  I thought I just prayed the prayer and I was good to go.”  No, faith in Christ is the beginning of a journey.  It is the start of a brand new life.  A life lived in obedience to the law of Christ.  A life of progressive holiness that will end in glory.  The road is often difficult.  There are steep climbs and deep valleys.  There is sunshine and rain.  It is not a life for the faint of heart but it is the life we’ve been called to.  Our text this morning is found in the 12th chapter of Romans.

Text: Romans 12:9-21

Paul began this section by saying, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”  This is not a “one time” offering but rather a continual offering.  It is a daily dying to ourselves and our agenda and choosing to live for Christ.  Verse 3 and following then outlines what that means.  It means that we see ourselves as we really are in light of Christ.  We see ourselves vitally and dynamically connected to others and are willing to give ourselves in service for God’s glory and the good of His church.  This morning’s text takes that a bit further.

In the text before us we discover that…

Thesis: The life transformed by the Spirit of God passionately loves the Church and profoundly loves the world.

Wait a minute.  Doesn’t the Bible say you cannot love God and love the world?  Doesn’t the Bible say you are either the friend of God or the friend of the world but not both?  How can you say love the church and love the world?

Well, let’s look at the text. There are two things I want to point out as we make our way through this passage.

1. The transformed life devoutly and devotedly loves the Church.  (12:9-13)
2. The transformed life astonishingly and profoundly loves the world.  (12:14-21)

Loving the Church and loving the world go together.  They are the demands of the life we’ve been called to.  If Romans 12:1-2 are true - this is the result.  Lives renewed and transformed so act.  By God’s grace and for His glory.

Introduction
It is just so “out of place.”  It makes no sense.  It should have been a time of great rejoicing.  It should have been a time for declaring the goodness and the grace of God.  Instead, God’s prophet was angry.  More disturbing was why he was angry.  He was angry because God was acting like God and that’s not what the preacher wanted.  He was called from Galilee to preach God’s message but he was unhappy with the assignment.  So, he ran away.  But you can’t run from God so he didn’t get very far.  God’s severe mercy brought the wayward prophet to repentance.  In kindness and grace God commissioned him again.  He gave his rebellious prophet a second chance.  Jonah went and preached God’s message.  A great revival broke out.  It touched everyone from the stable to the palace.  From the least to the greatest.  That’s were we pick up the story in Jonah chapter 4.

Text: Jonah 4:1-11
I want to give Jonah the benefit of the doubt.
Three days and nights in the belly of a fish is bound to warp you a bit.
But this is incredible.
I’ve said the book is in 4 parts.
Rebellion - 1
Repentance - 2
Revival - 3
Regret - 4

The whole story of Jonah is the story of God’s mercy.
First God’s mercy on Jonah in calling him in the first place.
In love and kindness God called Jonah, equipped Jonah, revealed himself to Jonah and then commissioned him to go to Nineveh.

Jonah rebelled - went to Joppa, paid the fare and boarded a ship bound for Tarshish.
In mercy God brought a great storm on the sea.
In mercy God revealed to all aboard that Jonah was the problem.
But rather than repent Jonah wanted to die - “Throw me overboard.”
In mercy God appointed a fish.
In the belly of the fish - Jonah “came to himself” and found God as Savior.
God’s mercy was demonstrated again when He called Jonah a second time.
Giving him the same commission.
And again when he used Jonah to bring a great revival.

God’s mercy was shown to the sailors who first called out “to their gods.”
But later, following God’s revelation worshiped the true God.

God’s mercy was shown to Nineveh in His relenting of the disaster He promised and granting them revival.

Certainly all of this is cause for much rejoicing but Jonah is mad.  He is angry with God.  Let’s explore this chapter.

1. A Shocking Revelation - 4:1-3
2. Some Familiar and Uncomfortable Reasons - 4:1-3
3. Three Probing and Disturbing Questions - 4:4-11

The book ends with a question.
There is no answer - why?
Because we all must answer it for ourselves.

The book of Jonah is about mercy.
If we have tasted of that mercy are we not obligated to take that message to our world?
If we have the mind and heart of God are we not to be merciful?

Introduction
What does it look like?  How am I supposed to act?  What are the rules?  These are all legitimate questions when considering what the Christian life is all about.  Okay we are different.  We’ve been changed by the grace of God - but how are we different?  Are the Amish right?  Are we to shun the world and forego modern conveniences?  Like the Pentecostals are we to avoid makeup, jewelry and make sure we dress modestly?  Are the Word of Faith folks right and we should walk in health and prosperity?  Is there a list?  Maybe a pocket guide to righteous living so that I have it for easy reference.  So many voices, so many views who’s right?  Where do I go for clear direction?  As with all such questions we go to the Word of God.  But what you will find is that it is not as “cut and dried” as you may want it.  It is not about rules.  It is not about lists.  It is deeper than that.  The issues are far more complex than most want to acknowledge.  Living the Christian life is not easy.  It is demanding.  It requires steadfast determination and patience.  It starts with who you are and then naturally unfolds what you do in light of who you are.  Paul wrote to the church at Rome to lay out his gospel, the message God had given him.  He wanted to lay the ground work for what he hoped would be a long and fruitful ministry there.  The first 11 chapters are filled with profound doctrinal truths.  He begins with the radical depravity of man and then reveals God’s gracious provision in Christ.  He explains that the gift of life must be obtained through faith and that faith brings radical change.  The Spirit of God is placed within us and cries, “Papa!  Father!”  The Holy Spirit then begins to work our sanctification or holiness.  This is a life-long process that has its ups and downs.  But always moves us towards holiness until ultimately presenting us holy and acceptable to God.  Paul also makes it clear that God is always faithful to His people and His promise.  Then in chapter 12 the focus moves from doctrine to duty, from theology to practice.  The two must not be seen as separate for they are inseparably linked.  The one flows into the other, the latter grows out of the former.  With chapter 12 the issue becomes, how am I to live in light of chapters 1-11?  What is required of me?  What does Christian living look like?  Our text this morning is found in Romans 12 beginning with verse 3.

Text: Romans 12:3-8

Romans 12:1-2 is a call to commitment.
Reminding us that:
Commitment is based on the mercies of God in Christ.
This commitment demands our total being (love so amazing demands my life, my soul, my all).
This commitment requires that I say, “No” to the spirit of the age and “Yes” to the Spirit of God.

This morning’s text builds on that foundation.  What does it mean to live with a transformed mind?  This life surrendered to the Spirit of God, what does it do?

I want to point out three things from the text.

1. Genuine Christian living demands an honest self-assessment in light of the person of Jesus Christ.  (12:3)
2. Genuine Christian living demands that you see your life vitally and dynamically connected with others.  (12:4-5)
3. Genuine Christian living demands that you unhesitatingly and unselfishly use your gifts for God’s glory and the good of His church.  (12:6-8)

Thesis: Genuine Christian living requires honest evaluation and Christ-centered service focused on others.

Introduction
It is incredible.  It defies logic.  It is contrary to our experience.  I understand that it is hard to believe.  Yet it is the basis of our celebration today.  It is the reason for our hope.  It is why we sing.  “Dead people don’t walk out of graves!” Our experience is that life is hard and then you die.  Yet for the Christian, that is not the whole story.  Central to our thinking and our faith is that death has been conquered!  The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave is not an optional belief for the Christian.  If Christ did not come out of the grave, what assurance do we have that our ransom has been paid?  If Christ was not raised what confidence do we have that death has been overcome?  In fact, the apostle Paul tells us if Christ is not raised than we are the most miserable people on earth!

That is why the apostle assures us, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that “Christ was raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25).  Peter says we have been given, “new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).  Today is Resurrection Day!  Today we gather in joyous celebration of the fact that we serve a risen Savior!  This morning I want us to look at Matthew’s account of this momentous event.

Text: Matthew 28:1-15

It has been a long couple of days. Their world was rocked and the light was turned off! Just a week ago – He entered the city to joyous shouts of praise. But by Friday morning He had been betrayed, tried, convicted, beaten and nailed to a cross. His followers scattered in all directions. His lifeless body was taken from the cross and placed in a borrowed grave. It was over. There had been such promise. But now there was only hopelessness.

Their sorrow and their confusion conspired to drown out His words of resurrection and hope. But that was before dawn on the first day of the week… Every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection for the church. This is not a once a year occasion – it’s weekly! Why is that? What is the big deal about the resurrection?

Of course to answer that properly we must first understand the significance of the cross.

• Creation
• The Garden
• The Fall
• The Promise
• The Passover/Exodus
• The Tabernacle
• The Sacrifices
• The Prophets
• The Christ – perfect sinless life – gave himself – lamb w/out spot or blemish – to ransom

“I came to seek and to save the lost…I came not to be served but to serve and to give my life a ransom for many…this is my body given for you…this is my blood poured out for you…”

Paul said, “If Christ is not raised we are still in our sin.” “If Christ is not raised – our preaching is a vain thing (it is worthless).” “If Christ is not raised we are without hope.” If he is not the “first fruit” what assurance do we have of being raised? If it is merely His “influence” that lives on – is that the best we can hope for?

Let’s consider the record

• Matthew 27:50
• Mark 15:37
• Luke 23:46
• John 19:30, 32-34

I emphasize this because the doctrine of the resurrection starts with the fact that Jesus died.  Resurrection follows death.  There are those who deny that he died.

• Some believe that he was merely in a comma and after being placed in the tomb he came out of it.
• Others have suggested that the women and later His disciples, went to the wrong tomb!
• This of course is ludicrous given Matthew 27:61.
• Others suggest, as our text indicates, that Jesus’ followers stole his body.

But, having said that, it is imperative that you note:

Thesis: Overwhelming evidence for the fact of the resurrection does not ensure saving faith.

1. The resurrection inspires reverential fear and great joy in the hearts of believing saints.  (28:1-8)
2. The resurrection inspires obstinance and denial in the hearts of those who refuse to believe.  (28:11-15)

The empty tomb.  The various resurrection appearances.  Two thousand years of church history all declare the reality of the resurrection – my question to you is, “what is your response?”  Is it one of reverential fear and great joy or one of obstinate refusal?

The difference is the difference between life and death.

It is possible to attend church faithfully in celebration of the resurrection and still die in your sin.  It is possible to acknowledge belief in the resurrection without surrendering your life, dying to self or trusting in Christ for life eternal and life abundant.  Religious ceremony and adherence to traditions is of no value apart from a heart of loving obedience and simple trust.  What is your response to the news that – “He is alive?”

Introduction
It is possible to be too familiar with truth, after all familiarity does breed contempt.  Because of our continuous emphasis on grace we can fall into the trap of thinking of grace as “commonplace.”  As something ordinary or pedestrian.  When the truth is grace is anything but common.  It is a most uncommon thing.  Grace is God’s favor.  It is unearned and undeserved.  It must never be taken for granted and must not be thought of as anything other than extraordinary.  But we speak of salvation by grace as though it is expected, worse, as if it is owed.  When the truth is grace is alway surprising.  One great example of God’s surprising grace is found in the Old Testament book of Jonah.

Jonah, a prophet from Galilee, was called to take God’s message to the capital city of the Assyrian empire.  He didn’t want to do that.  Not because they were a wicked and cruel people, though they were.  Not because he feared for his life, though he had every reason to fear.  But because he was afraid that God would be gracious with the Ninevites and forgive them!

So he tried to run away. He booked passage on a ship heading for Tarshish off the northern coast of Spain. He was determined to go as far away from his assignment as possible. But he couldn’t run away from God.
God hurled a great storm on the sea and threatened the ship and all those aboard. Eventually Jonah’s secret is discovered. And rather than go and do what God called him to do - he asked to be thrown overboard! He’d rather die than do the will of God. But God is gracious and spared Jonah. God graciously brought Jonah to repentance. Of course you remember how He did that - a great fish, 3 days and nights.

I guess 3 days and nights in a fish’s belly is a time for some serious reflection! Not much else to do than contemplate your life choices and consider the future. After Jonah repented and found salvation in the Lord - God gave the order and Jonah was delivered to dry land.  That’s were we pick up the story.

Text: Jonah 3:1-10
As we work our way through the third chapter we’ll note a surprising revelation, a definite reversal and an amazing revival.

1. A Surprising Revelation - 3:1-2
2. A Definite Reversal - 3:3-4
3. An Amazing Revival - 3:5-10

This chapter is the great miracle chapter of Jonah not chapter 2!  Because it is here we see the miracle working power of God’s grace.  And we behold the wonder of His grace in His changing the heart of His wayward prophet and transforming a wicked city.

Introduction:
What is expected of me as a Christian?  What level of involvement does my faith demand?  Is it possible to give my heart to Jesus and be saved and then later commit to more?  Can I trust Jesus as Savior now and as Lord later?  Now you certainly wouldn’t expect the same from me as a lowly church member as you do the pastor?  Is there a chart that shows the various commitment levels?  It seems to me there is a lot of confusion about commitment and expectations within the church.  Part of that confusion is due to not understanding distinctions between assignments within the church and commitment.  Responsibilities and commitment are not synonymous.  The pastor may be expected to visit the sick and those in the hospital, prepare three sermons a week, do the counseling and oversee the administration of church business but that is a matter of assigned responsibility not commitment.  Due to the amount of time required to focus on those task he is paid to free him to concentrate on those responsibilities but all believers are to be as committed as the pastor.  Every Christian is to be committed to Christ and to His church with all of their being.  There is not a level for average member and then you step up to above average, then you enter the realm of exceptional member by being made a deacon or Sunday School teacher or youth worker and then, by God’s grace, you move to the exalted level of church staff,  with each level demanding more and more commitment.  Just what is required of you as a Christian?  That is the focus of our text this morning found in Romans chapter 12.

Text: Romans 12:1-2

We’ve come to a new section within Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians. We’re moving from the doctrine to duty. We’re moving from theology to practice. But don’t think the two are unrelated - they are not. The one flows from the other.
Duty is built on doctrine. Theology moves us to practice.

Just what is required of the believer?  What are responsibilities?  What is Christian commitment?

We are going to consider the basis, the demands, the requirements and the fruit of Christian commitment as we work our way through these 2 verses.

1. First, the basis: Christian commitment is in response to the mercies of God in Christ.  (12:1a)
2. Christian commitment demands your whole being.  (12:1b)
3. Christian commitment requires your saying no to the spirit of the age and yes to the transforming work of the Spirit of God.  (12:2a)
4. Christian commitment enables you to discern the will of God.  (12:2b)

If we are to impact our community, city, state and the world it will demand a holy boldness.
Three characteristics of holy boldness

1. Holy Boldness is born in the call and commission of our God.  (5:17-21)
2. Holy Boldness refuses to be intimidated.  (5:21-33)
3. Holy Boldness emerges from tribulation renewed strength and determination.  (5:40-42)

Introduction
It was the defining characteristic of the preaching on John the Baptist and it was the hallmark of the preaching of our Lord - “Repentance.”  Unfortunately repentance has fallen out of favor.  One might even get the impression it is on the “do not use” list.  Calls for repentance have come to be associated with more primitive times.  It congers up images of red-faced evangelists and protracted meetings.  We don’t have time for such nonsense anymore.  We’re busy people.  Places to go, people to see and that whole repentance thing is offensive.  We’re struggling to pay the bills and keep the doors open we can’t afford to run folks off.  The problem is without the message of repentance we have no Gospel.  Without repentance there is no salvation.  With no Gospel and no salvation we might as well close up shop because we have nothing to offer.  Jonah was called to take God’s message to Nineveh the capital city of the Assyrian Empire.  But Jonah didn’t want to go.  He didn’t want to preach to them because he knew if he came preaching God’s judgment they might repent and if they repented - God would forgive them and Jonah just couldn’t live with that.  So Jonah set his sights in the opposite direction.  He was determined to go as far away from God’s call as humanly possible.  He went down to Joppa, payed the fare and got in a boat heading for Tarshish.  But God’s severe grace hunted him down.  God hurled a great wind onto the sea and threatened to break up the ship.  After an intense struggle it was finally discovered that Jonah was the problem.  After some debate the sailors reluctantly tossed Jonah overboard.  That’s where we pick up the story and it is at this point Jonah learns about repentance.  Our text this evening is found in Jonah chapter 2.

Text: Jonah 1:17-2:10
Remember I said last week we can divide this book into 4 sections.

• Chapter 1 - Rebellion
• Chapter 2 - Repentance
• Chapter 3 - Revival
• Chapter 4 - Regret

This evening we deal with repentance.

Before we get into that though let’s deal with the controversy of this chapter and the book of Jonah.  There are those who believe this story is, at best, an allegory or a parable.  The problem is that it doesn’t read like that at all.  There is nothing in the text to indicate we should read it or understand it in anyway other than literal.  Others say it is purely myth.  Come on, a fish swallowing a man, the man lives for 3 days and nights in the belly of the fish and then is spit up on dray land?  That’s quite a tale!  That will put some fishermen to shame.

The truth is if you begin by saying, “Miracles do not happen because miracles cannot happen” it doesn’t matter what proof is set before you - you will not believe it.  If you start with a God who created the universe by the power of His word this is not a problem.  You don’t need an explanation.

The truth is there are whales and other sea creatures capable of swallowing a man.  For instance the average sperm whale might have a mouth 20 feet long, 15 feet high, and 9 feet wide.  It is know they feed mostly on squid, which are often larger than a man.  According to the Library Research Service of the Encyclopedia Britannica there are documented cases of whalers being swallowed by whales and later cut out of whales still alive.  One such case involved a whaling ship names The Star of the East sailing off the coast of the Falkland Islands in February of 1891. A large sperm whale was spotted and two boats were dispatched.  One of the boats was capsized in the process one sailor drowned, the other, James Bartley disappeared and could not be found.  In time the whale was killed and brought alongside the ship.   It was secured and its blubber removed.  The next day the stomach was hoisted onto the deck.  When opened the missing sailor was found inside.  He was unconscious but alive.  After some time he resumed his duties on board the whaling vessel.

Is it possible Jonah was swallowed by a great fish and survived as the Bible plainly teaches?  Yes, but the real issue is not what went on inside that great fish but rather what went on inside of Jonah? A great transformation took place and from it we learn about genuine repentance.

I want to point out 3 characteristics of genuine repentance from Jonah’s prayer.

1. Genuine repentance begins with an honest assessment of your circumstances.
2. Genuine repentance rightly assigns blame and demands nothing in return.
3. Genuine repentance gladly takes its place in the presence of the ungodly and turns from rebellion to trust in God alone.

This is genuine repentance and without it there is no Gospel, there is no salvation.  May God grant us hearts of genuine repentance continually.

Introduction
It has been a theological battleground for centuries.  In more recent times it has been a point of heated debate, inflamed rhetoric and a test of orthodoxy.  What about Israel?  Are the Jews still God’s “chosen people” or has the church replaced Israel as the people of God?  Have the Jews “sinned” away their opportunity so that God has turned His back on them or is there a future glory?  It is an emotionally charged issue.  People tend to hold firm convictions on this.  Good and godly people have stood on both sides of the issue and both sides have their extremists.  On the side, of those who believe the Jews remain God’s chosen, are those who in essence believe that the church will be raptured out and God will pick up where He left off with Israel and they will reestablish temple worship and salvation will come through Old Testament means.  On the other hand are those extremists who believe there is no future whatsoever for the Jews, that they have been written off.  I can’t square either of these two views with what the Bible teaches.  I’ve stated before and I’ll restate it now, “I do not believe that God has two people.”  Historical, traditional dispensationalism teaches that the Jews and the church are two separate peoples.  Dispensationalism says the church is a parenthesis in God’s plan.  He set aside what He was doing, inserted the church, will take the church out of the picture and pick up where He left off.  The spiritual blessings and promises given to Abraham are given to the church but the earthly promises (the land, kingdoms etc) belong to the Jews.  As I read the Scripture God has a people all of whom are children of promise, heirs of Abraham by faith, Jews and Gentiles.  Now, does that mean I believe God is finished with the Jews?  You are going to have to stay tuned to find out.  Our text this morning is found in Romans chapter 11.

Text: Romans 11:1-36
Paul is setting forth his gospel.
This is the message he is preaching on his travels and in his writings.

He spends the first 8 chapters showing we are sinners, God has made provision in Christ, we have to embrace that gift by faith, that gift transforms us, and we cannot lose it.

Then in chapters 9-11 he deals with the question of the Jews.
What about Israel?
Are they God’s people or not?
Has God failed in keeping them?
Has God been faithful?

These chapters are not without controversy and many choose to skip over them.  That would be a mistake.  There are important lessons for us in these chapters.  Lessons about God’s mercy and grace.  We must not approach these chapters only to answer the question of whether the Jews are “in” or “out” for to do so is to miss the greater issue.  To do so is to miss the beautiful portrait of God found in these chapters.

In fact here is what I want you to see in Romans 11…

Thesis: When responding to questions concerning Israel’s future, Paul’s answer causes us to look beyond the surface and stand in awe of God’s great and gracious work.

The real issue is not Israel - it is God.
The approach ought not to be, “What about Israel” but “What about God?”
If Israel is in - why are they in?
If Israel is out - why are they out?
If they are in is it because of Israel or because of God?
If they are out is it God’s fault or is Israel to blame?
This book is about God.

With that in mind allow me to point out three things we learn about God as we work our way through Romans 11.

1. God always remains faithful to His word and His people.  (11:1-6)
2. Even His judgment is ultimately for the good of His people.  (11:7-24)
3. God works in such a way that our only response is to stand in awe of His grace.  (11:25-36)

Paul began Romans 9 with a heartfelt lament for the state of his people.  By the time he ended his discussion of Israel’s future in Romans 11 and considered the glorious possibility that God was not finished with Israel, Paul’s heart was stirred to a glorious doxology - 11:33-36.

Is there a future for Israel?  You bet there is by God’s grace and for His glory.

Introduction
As the family set around the table following Sunday dinner, talk turned to Sunday School.  Little Johnny, the 7-year old, was asked what he had learned that day.  “We learned about the children of Israel fleeing Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea.”  Smiling approved dad said, “Why don’t you tell us the story son.”  Johnny took a deep breath and said, “Well, the children of Israel made it as far as the Red Sea when the Egyptian army was gaining on them.  Old Pharaoh had decided it was a mistake to let them go.  The people were real scared but Moses called in some engineers and they built these pontoon bridges that allowed the people to get across the Sea.  Moses made sure that the last group across were special forces soldiers and they planted explosives on the bridges and waited for the Egyptians.  When the Egyptians got on the bridges they set off the explosions and killed the entire Egyptian army!”  The whole family was stunned.  Mom finally said, “Is that what they taught you this morning in Sunday School?”  Johnny, bowing his head in shame, said, “No, but I knew you would never believer the whopper they told us!”

There are those stories that seem unbelievable.  Those biblical accounts that stand out as just too incredible to be true.  And I understand natural minds struggling to believe.  I understand people who begin by saying, “Miracles do not happen because miracles cannot happen” have difficulty accepting the miraculous.  But if you begin with a God who spoke and worlds came into being - then it’s not a problem.  A God who created everything that exists by the power of His word has no trouble parting the Red Sea.  He is not hinder in causing the walls of Jericho to come “tumbling down.”  And He has no problem causing a fish to swallow a man only to spit up on dry ground three days later.  This evening we begin a quick look at the book of Jonah.  The story of Jonah is a familiar tale.  If you’ve been around church awhile you’ve heard the story many times.  Jonah is one of the “Minor Prophets.”  So named not because they are unimportant but because their books are generally shorter than the other prophets.  Jonah, for instance, is just 4 chapters.  The story is told in a straightforward manner.  Through the years some have suggested that it be read as an allegory or a parable.  The problem with that view is that is doesn’t read like a parable.  There are too many details and historical references.  In addition there is nothing in the text to indicate that it should be read anyway other than literal.  In fact Jesus refers to it in a historical sense in Matthew 12:39-40.

We know from a reference in 2 Kings 14:25 that Jonah was from Gath-hepher, a small village 3 miles north of Nazareth in Galilee.  Further we know that he ministered to the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (782-753 B.C.).  Most likely the events recorded in the book of Jonah happened around 760 during a time of mild decline in the power of the Assyrian empire.  It was also following a time of earthquakes, drought and famine.  Looking at the book as a whole it could be broken down by 4 words - Rebellion (1), Repentance (2), Revival (3) and Regret (4).  It is an interesting tale of God’s sovereignty and mercy; of His judgment and His grace.  This evening we consider the drama of chapter 1.

Text: Jonah 1:1-16

As we work our way through the chapter keep your eye on…

The surprising, fearful and often severe grace of God.

I’ve chosen those words carefully.  I think they’re important because I fear we have a limited understanding of grace.  We tend to think simplistically - law = bad, grace = good.  We think of grace only in terms of “good things” rather than understanding grace is God’s working for our good.  And sometimes the gracious thing is a hard thing.  Sometimes the gracious thing is a painful thing.  Jonah is a great example of what I’m talking about.

There are four acts to the drama of chapter 1.

• Act 1 - A Sovereign and Gracious Call - (1:1-2)
• Act 2 - An Arrogant and Doomed Rebellion - (1:3)
• Act 3 - A Response of Severe Grace - (1:4-15)
• Act 4 - A Surprising Revival - (1:16)

Conclusion:
So what do we learn?  You can resist God’s will.  You can pay the fare and head your own direction but His surprising, fearful and often severe grace will track you down for your good and His glory.

Introduction
I’ve learned through the years that balance is pretty important.  Due to surgery to remove an acoustic tumor in ’95 I’ve had difficulty with uneven surfaces.  If I get on even a slight incline I’m very unsteady.  I remember getting up on my roof taking a few steps and learning very quickly that was not a good idea.  It was then I gave up my dream of joining the circus as a tightrope artist.  At the same time, as I’ve grown older and hopefully a little wiser, I’ve learn the value of theological balance.  Anytime we emphasis one truth to the detriment of another we get into trouble.  For instance if we emphasize the love of God to the point we obscure the doctrine of God’s holiness we distort the nature of God.  The result is a warped understanding of God that leads to an abuse of His kindness by presuming upon His grace.  Such thinking excuses sin by saying, “God will forgive me.”  On the other hand if we focus on God’s wrath to the point we neglect His love we are left with a vengeful God who is the God of the great big stick.  The result is that we live in fear of retribution without knowing the joy of fellowship with a loving, gracious Father.  We need balance.  God is love and God is holy.  He is to be feared and yet He is to be trusted.  There is judgment but there is also love and forgiveness.  There is wrath and there is mercy.  These truths must be kept in balance if we are to faithfully live in His presence.  In Romans 9 we are confronted with some difficult truths.  Truths that often disturb and bother folks.  We are confronted by God’s sovereignty in election.  The fact that God chooses to save some but not all.  The fact that He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy and He will harden whom He will harden.  We may not like that or be comfortable with that but we must allow God to be God.  He doesn’t owe salvation to any of us.  It is by grace that we are saved through faith.  But the truths of Romans 9 must be balanced with the truths of Romans 10.  Romans 9 says salvation is God’s business.  Romans 10 says we’re responsible!  Which is it?  Is it God’s doing or our doing?  It is both.

This is part of the mystery of our faith.  Can I fully explain it?  No.  Do I believe it?  Yes.  Why?  Because this is what God has revealed.  This is where balance comes in.  Yes God is sovereign and I cannot, I would not come to salvation apart from the work of His grace and yet I still choose.  I must respond to His grace.  I must repent and believe.  It is not a contradiction it is a mystery.  Years ago a friend who had attended Moody Bible Institute in the 40s talked about Wilbur Smith lecturing for weeks on the doctrine of divine election.  When he finally reached the end of his lecture series and had managed to convince a bunch of students to reluctantly embrace this doctrine of sovereign election he said, “Now let’s stand and sing, Whosoever Will as we are dismissed.”  That’s it.  It’s mysterious.  I’ve yet to come across anyone who adequately explains how that can be.  I heard one try by saying, “God’s sovereign election and our freely choosing are two parallel lines that meet in eternity.”  That has a nice ring to it but parallel lines don’t meet in eternity or anywhere else.  If they do they are not parallel!

What is clear with an honest reading of Romans 10 is…
Thesis: The biblical doctrine of salvation demands personal accountability.

Our text this morning is found in the tenth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians.
Text: Romans 10:1-21

Do you remember how this section began?
Romans 9:1-6 - Paul was burdened over the “lostness” of his kinsmen.
Which led to the question - “Has God failed?”
Is God to blame for their being lost?

• The first part of the answer is in chapter 9 - “No, God is not to blame - it is only by His grace anyone is saved.”
• The second part of the answer is in chapter 10 - “No, God is not to blame - Israel is without excuse.”

There are three things I want to point out as we work our way through this 10th chapter.

1. Zeal, passion and sincerity are sorry substitutes for truth.  (10:1-4)
2. Saving faith is profoundly simple.  (10:5-15)
3. Ultimately you are responsible for your accepting or rejecting the gospel.  (10:16-21)

Introduction:
If you’ve ever read the Puritan writers you know they seemed to have been obsessed with the question of assurance.  They were intense naval gazers!  Introspection was a hobby.  Constantly questioning their own motives and thoughts.  Contrast that with the vast number of folks who today boldly, with great certainty claim to be saved in spite of the fact their life gives no evidence of it.  I’ve met scores of people who recall with great fondness and detail how they “walked the aisle” and “gave their heart to Jesus” years ago but have no interest in the church or the things of God today.  They rest in the assurance of their “decision” or their “baptism” but are unrepentant of their unbiblical lifestyle and their lack of involvement in the things of God.  “Houston, we have a problem.”

There is great comfort in knowing that God is at work in His people.  That the God who saves is the God who delivers.  That the One who began the good work in you, will complete His work.  In spite of our weakness and failings, in spite of our faults and unbelief we are stumbling towards glory and by God’s grace we will get there.  But that is only true for those who are genuinely born of the Spirit of God.  I understand that I cannot stand as anyone else’s judge and determine conclusively whether they are in or out of God’s Kingdom but I can and must speak the truth of the Scripture.  And the Scripture warns of “false” professions of faith.  Last time we talked about assurance, I want to follow up on that this evening.  Specifically I want to talk about how we know we belong to Christ.

Salvation on God’s Terms
The place to begin is to ask what are the terms of salvation?  What is required of those who are saved?  This assumes what the Scripture says about man, his creation by God, his fall and the consequences of that fall.

Recap:

• Creation in the image and likeness of God.
• Perfection in the Garden.
• Adam & Eves relationship and their relationship with God.
• The temptation of the Serpent.
• The rebellion.
• The cost.
• The curse.
• God’s remedy.

What is abundantly clear throughout Scripture is that we come to God on His terms.  We do not come to God in a manner of our choosing.  We are the offenders.  We are guilty.  What must we do to restore things, to make things right?  God, as Sovereign and as the offended party, sets the terms.

So what is it He requires?

Jesus himself came preaching, “Repent and believe the gospel…” Mark 1:15.
We find the same thing from the apostle Paul the other New Testament writers.
Repent and believe.

This means two things:

1. The man who has been born of God will hate sin and turn away from it (repent).
2. The man who has been born of God will love righteousness and truth.

Paul expresses it this way: But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.  2 Thessalonians 2:13

It must also be noted that these are not one time events.
This is not a matter of saying, “I once repented and believed.”
This is on-going.
It is a lifetime of repenting and believing.
In other words it is something you do and continue to do.

The Lasting Result of Such a Salvation
What is it that happens to those who repent and believe?
The Bible is clear - they are sanctified.

When we think about a person being a saint we think - moral perfection.
But that is not its primary meaning.
The primary meaning is “set apart” or “set aside for a specific purpose.”

In the OT when a pot was “sanctified” it was set apart for a sacred use.  When it is set aside for that sacred use it is not used for anything else.  It was, from that time on, devoted to God alone.

In salvation God’s men and women are set apart for God alone.
Unlike the men and women around them who serve other gods - they serve God alone.
This setting aside is done by God, not by the individuals.

This is critical - when God sets us apart He gives us new hearts.
This new heart results in a complete change of “heart” toward sin.
What we once loved, we now find repulsive.
We develop a growing disdain for sin and unrighteousness.
This disdain for sin is not because it harms us but because it is offensive to God.
Sin was once a delight for us (because it satisfied a desire/longing) now it is a burden.

This new heart also causes us to love truth and despise false teaching.
We say, along with the apostle Paul, “Let God be true, and every man a liar” (Ro. 3:4).
God’s truth becomes more important to us than anything else.
To the point we are willing to die for the truth.

• Paul
• Peter
• The early martyrs
• The Reformers

Now understand this “truth” is not just a bundle of doctrinal affirmations.
John 14:6 - it is Christ himself.

If a man does not trust and love the Lord Jesus, that man is not a Christian regardless of his testimony or what he professes.

You must ask yourself - “Do I truly love Christ?”
“Am I certain that I have believed in Jesus?”

But wait, isn’t it wrong to question?  NO!

Listen to Peter:

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 2 Peter 1:5-9

Peter is saying cultivate these things, grow in these characteristics.
Then note what he says next:

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:10-11

Peter is not talking about how to be saved.
He is telling us that there is a way to confirm to ourselves that we belong to Christ.
This is about determining whether my conviction is sound or delusional.
How can I know I belong to Christ?

Not by asking if I’ve “made a decision.”
Not by turning to my baptism certificate.
Multitudes will claim but of those and wind up in hell.
Rather I must apply the tests of Scripture.

That is the things Peter talks about here and what John says in 1 John.

• The doctrine test - 1 John 2:22-23
• The love test - 1 John 2:9-11
• Test of obedience - 1 John 2:3-6

We are to strive toward holiness.  We will not achieve perfection but we ought to progress in godliness.

Consider John 14:21, 23-24:
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.

Jesus answered him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

Some Tough Yet Vital Questions
Do you live to please God or to please yourself?
Do you hate sin and love righteousness?
Do you hate sin because it offends God or because it hurts you or people you love?

Is there a clear distinction between your life and the lifestyle of unbelievers?

• Eph. 2:8-9
• Eph. 2:10

Do you trust Christ or truths about Christ?

Are these questions unsettling?  If so that’s good.  Not because I want to create doubt or confusion but because it is necessary to test gold to insure it is genuine.  Gold is not placed in the fire to destroy it but to purify it.  The same is true of our faith.

Do you want God’s way in your life?  Do you trust Him to work His way in you?
Do you truth Him with your circumstances?

Ask yourself, “Do I want what God wants, even when I don’t know what it is?”  Or do you need to know what God wants to do because you can say, “yes”?

Don’t answer that quickly.  Think through the implications and then respond.

Our Comfort

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. John 6:37

Introduction
Can you believe the weather we’ve had this year?  Oklahoma weather has always been crazy but this year seems to take the cake.  One day the sun is shining, it’s warm, flowers are blooming and the next day we are covered with snow and ice!  Just last week I was in my office near the end of the day.  I had come back from lunch about 3 hours earlier and it was nice and warm outside.  I didn’t even bother to wear a jacket.  After working at my desk for a couple of hours I looked out the window.  The sun was behind the clouds, I could see the tree limbs bending to the wind.  When I stepped outside I wondered, “Where is my coat?”  Temperature had dropped at least 20 degrees and I was in shock.  That’s not unlike the experience one has moving from Romans 8 to Romans chapter 9.  Chapter 8 is all sunshine.  “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  No condemnation, no separation and in between - no defeat!  What a glorious word.  What comfort.  What encouragement.  What peace.  Then comes the dark clouds of chapter 9.  Paul’s heart is broken over the lostness of his brethren, according to the flesh.  He is burdened to the point he could wish himself accursed, damned, for the sake of the Jews.  As you work your way through the chapter there are questions about God’s faithfulness and justice, teaching on sovereign election and God’s sovereignty in showing mercy to some and hardening others.  Romans chapter 9 is not for the faint of heart!

As I worked my way through the text trying to outline the chapter here is what I came up with:

• A burdened and broken heart - 9:1-5
• A somber and troublesome question - 9:6-13
• An even more disturbing answer - 9:14-29
• An undeniable conclusion - 9:30-33

While this is a theologically heavy chapter don’t let that frighten you away.  This is a wonderful chapter affirming God’s power and sovereignty which are essential to our having any hope or confidence.  At the heart of chapter 9 is the question of God’s faithfulness.  In responding Paul appeals to God’s sovereignty as the basis of our hope.  The truth of the matter is that if God is not faithful to His word, we cannot count on Romans 8 being true!

Once again there is the danger of focusing on the question of election and missing the larger truth.  I’m not saying it is nonessential or unimportant.  I’m saying too often we focus on the wrong aspect of the truth and neglect other applications.  At the heart of this chapter is the question of salvation and how it is we come to faith in Christ.  I’m afraid there is the tendency to analyze such passages to death.  We want to dissect this doctrine, analyze its particulars and methodically explain it when it is intended to inspire worship and adoration!  I’m convinced this is a text that ought to inform our understanding of the gospel and evangelism.  Far from discouraging evangelism, the truths of this passage ought to inspire it.  Rather than distract us it ought to empower us.

As we work our way through this chapter I want you to keep this in mind…

Thesis: Biblical evangelism demands a full-orbed Gospel.
Full-orbed means a well rounded, complete and faithful, taking everything into consideration.

Text: Romans 9:1-33
There are 3 things I want to point out, in light of this text.

1. A full-orbed gospel understands “lostness” and knows the pain of a broken and burdened heart.  (9:1-5)
2. A full-orbed gospel boldly grapples with the weighty issues of theology in seeking to be faithful in applying the biblical text.  (9:6-29)
3. A full-orbed gospel comes to rest on the doctrine of salvation by faith because of God’s mercy and grace.  (9:30-33)

What then shall we say?  What are we to conclude?

Those who didn’t pursue righteousness - found it.
Those who did pursue it - never did.

Why?  How?
Because salvation is by grace because of faith.

Introduction
According to the Scriptures we are to be a “peculiar” people.  That doesn’t mean “strange” or “weird.”  It means that we stand out as different.  A people “marked off” as belonging to some unique group or a particular identity.  It means that we think differently than those around us.  We have another way of interpreting the world, of assessing value, and determining what matters and what does not.  Our faith is not just a set if ideas or concepts that we believe to be true but a life that we embrace.  We embrace truth and that truth affects the way we live.  We actually believe there is a God and that belief impacts how we live our lives.  We actually believe that there is a heaven and a hell; that sin is more than an attempt to define evil; that Jesus really was the Son of God who came to save us from the wrath of God; and those beliefs are cherished and “lived out.”  Because of that we look, act and think differently.

One of the things that ought to stand out, and stand out even more as the days grow more wicked, is our optimism and hope.  Of all the people on the planet we ought to face the future with confidence and courage because we know where this is heading!  We know that history is going somewhere.  That there is a person who is directing this show and it will end at His throne and it will bring Him glory.  I’m not talking about a shallow, superficial, pollyanna kind of optimism but rather a deep and abiding confidence that all things work together for our good and His glory.  Our text this morning is found in Romans chapter 8 beginning with verse 28.

Text: Romans 8:28-39
This is a comforting and yet disturbing passage.
Comforting because it so powerfully assures us of God’s presence and work.
Yet disturbing because it uses a word that is bothersome - “predestination.”

What I hope to show you is that this is a very comforting passage assuring us a some wonderful truths.  Truths that will provide shelter in times of storm.  Truths that will anchor your soul in times of doubt, heartache and turmoil.  This is another of those “mountain peak” passages in Scripture.  Do you remember I said, a couple of weeks ago, that this passage is set off with “no condemnation” on one side and “no separation” on the other?  We’ve talked of the comfort from knowing there remains no condemnation for those who are in Christ - now we are assured that nothing will ever separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As we work our way through this text we are reminded that…

Thesis: As the people of God we are to be marked by an unshakable confidence and an abiding comfort.
Let me point out two things from this text.

1. Our confidence rests in God’s sovereign and gracious work.  (8:28-29)
2. Our comfort is born of God’s preserving love.  (8:31-39)

Our confidence rests in God’s sovereign and gracious work.
Our comfort is born of God’s preserving love.

Thus we are marked by an unshakable confidence and an abiding comfort.